The present invention relates to integrated circuit packaging, and more particularly to an improved process for fabricating a Ball Grid Array (BGA) packaged device.
An integrated circuit (IC) die is a small device formed on a semiconductor wafer, such as a silicon wafer. A leadframe is a metal frame that usually includes a paddle that supports the IC die that has been cut from the wafer. The leadframe also has lead fingers that provide external electrical connections. That is, the die is attached to the die paddle and then bonding pads of the die are connected to the lead fingers via wire bonding or flip chip bumping to provide the external electrical connections. Encapsulating the die and wire bonds or flip chip bumps with a protective material forms a package. Depending on the package type, the external electrical connections may be used as-is, such as in a Thin Small Outline Package (TSOP), or further processed, such as by attaching spherical solder balls for a BGA. These terminal points allow the die to be electrically connected with other circuits, such as on a printed circuit board. However, it can be expensive and time-consuming to form a leadframe and package a device if steps like chemical etching and etch back are required.
Thus, it would be desirable to eliminate such etching steps, and further, to eliminate the need for the leadframe. It is desirable to have a method of decreasing the size of packaged ICs too.